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The killings occurred Wednesday in Santiago de los Caballeros,
with police accusing the suspects of opening fire on officers
first.
Authorities said those killed were members of a gang suspected
of kidnappings, drug trafficking and contract killings.
But activists are questioning Wednesday’s shootout as they noted
that such killings have nearly doubled from last year.
“We consider what happened yesterday to be an abusive use of
force by the National Police,” Manuel María Mercedes, president
of the National Human Rights Commission, told The Associated
Press.
He said that investigations must be transparent and within the
framework of due process as established by law.
“We are speaking out and denouncing the fact that we are
witnessing the establishment of the death penalty in the
Dominican Republic through extrajudicial executions, even though
the Constitution and international pacts and conventions
prohibit it,” Mercedes said.
Meanwhile, relatives of one of the victims told local media that
he was innocent and was killed as he was opening his barbershop.
According to records from the National Human Rights Commission,
more than 150 extrajudicial executions have occurred so far in
2025, surpassing the 80 recorded in 2024 in the country of
nearly 11 million people.
Two days before the killings, the opposition Dominican
Liberation Party called for an international body to carry out
independent criminal investigations into every death resulting
from police intervention.
Currently, the Office of the Attorney General is charged with
investigating police shootings, but activists note that doesn’t
always happen, and reports of their findings aren’t always made
public.
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